Second Council of Dvin

The Second Council of Dvin was a church Synod or ecumenical Council held in 554 in the city of Dvin (then in Sasanian Armenia).^[1][2][3]

Second Council of Dvin
Date	554
Accepted by	Armenian Apostolic Church
Previous council	First Council of Dvin
Next council	Third Council of Dvin
Convoked by	Nerses II of Bagrevand
Location	Dvin
Chronological list of ecumenical councils

The Second Council of Dvin was called by Catholicos Nerses II of Bagrevand,^[4] and the bishops declined to accept the canons of Chalcedon. This was significant as it was the moment where the Armenian church declined to accept the dyophysite formula that had been adopted by the majority of Christendom at the Council of Chalcedon. This decision was made because of the Armenians' observation that the decrees of Chalcedon had caused the doctrine of Nestorius to spread.

Impact of the Council

This rejection marks the point of separation between the Armenian Apostolic Church and Oriental Orthodoxy more generally from Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ^[5] (the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church were still united).^[6][7][8][9]

The Council adopted 87 canons and marks the beginning of the Armenian Church Calendar.^[10][11] It also established various administration and conduct rules and regulations for members of the Armenian Church.^[12]

See also

• First Council of Dvin
• Third Council of Dvin
• Fourth Council of Dvin

References

1. Armenia: The marzpans, at Britannica.
2. H.H. Karekin I's Council of Chalcedon and the Armenian Church (Karekin Sarkissian, 2006).
3. Kettenhofen, Erich (1996). "DVIN". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VII, Fasc. 6. pp. 616–619.
4. Augustine Casiday, The Orthodox Christian World (Routledge, 21 Aug 2012) page 47-48.
5. Panossian, Razmik (2006). The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 43-44. ISBN 9780231139267. The Armenian Apostolic Church formally became autocephalous - i.e. independent of external authority - in 554 by severing its links with the patriarchate of Constantinople.
6. Rouben Paul Adalian, Historical Dictionary of Armenia (Scarecrow Press, 2010) page 120.
7. Philip Francis Esler, The Early Christian World, Volume 1 (Taylor & Francis, 2000) p 334.
8. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF ARMENIA.
9. Oliver Nicholson, The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity (Oxford University Press, 19 Apr 2018) page 423.
10. Book of Canon Law pdf, page 26
11. Rouben Paul Adalian, Historical Dictionary of Armenia (Scarecrow Press, 2010) page 286.
12. Tim Greenwood, The Universal History of Step'anos Taronec'i: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary (Oxford University Press, 2017) p150-151.